Fourth Ward Cottage

MEDICINE bottle was found in the attic when the house was moved in Sam Houston Park in 2002.

This 19th-century cottage was previously located at 809 Robin Street in Houston’s Fourth Ward. It was home to a German immigrant family in the middle of the 19th century before serving as a rental house for more than a century (1883 to 2001). By the turn of the 20th century it was part of the thriving African American neighborhood known as “Freedmen’s Town” which served as a major hub for black education, business, and culture after Emancipation.

The cottage is the result of two separate buildings joined together: a one room Acadian cottage (front portion) and a two-room cottage (back portion), which resulted in a “shotgun” layout, mimicking the adjacent houses on Robin Street. The building was modified over time to meet residents' needs, and evidence of these changes can now be seen in the exposed layers of materials inside the building. The cottage was relocated to Sam Houston Park in 2002.

Interior of the middle room, where visitors can learn more about the cottage's residents through the years.

The Heritage Society

The Heritage Society (THS) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to tell the stories of the diverse history of Houston and Texas through collections, exhibits, educational programs, film, video, and other content.

The Heritage Society is funded in part by a grant from the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance.

Privacy: The Heritage Society respects the privacy of each visitor to The Heritage Society website. Any personal information provided by a visitor will be used solely byThe Heritage Society for internal purposes and, where appropriate, to contact individuals directly. Personal information will be shared only with those third-party service providers who perform functions on our behalf, including processing credit card payments, providing customer service, removing repetitive information from customer lists, analyzing data, and providing marketing assistance. For review or correction of your personal information, or to request that your donation not be listed in The Heritage Society publications, call Deborah Duty at 713-655-1912. For more information about The Heritage Society Privacy Policy click here.